Composite materials are sometimes comprised of both viscous and non-viscous constituents. For example, some telecommunication cables are filled with petroleum jelly or an extended thermoplastic rubber as a waterproofing measure. The presence of such viscous or jelly-like substances has however inhibited their reclamation. With telecommunication cables, for example, reclamation of those without jelly may be readily accomplished through the use of choppers and air gravity tables. These devices respectively liberate plastic insulation from the metallic conductors and separate the cable sheathing and conductors from each other and from the liberated insulation. With the inclusion of a viscous, jelly-like substance, however, both liberation and separation of the components is severly restricted since the jelly tends to adhere the various constituents together and to the processing equipment.
Recently, efforts have been made to devise a system for reclaiming jelly bearing telecommunication cables. One such approach has been the inclusion of a dry additive such as clay to absorb the jelly and form a mass of dry particles that may be reclaimed as before by chopping and air gravity table separation. Unfortunately, this approach has been impractical and cost inefficient due to the need for another material merely to serve as a transport medium in the reclamation process. The presence of clay has also created dust pollution and equipment wear.
Accordingly, there remains a need to provide an effective and efficient process and apparatus for reclaiming composite materials of the type that includes relatively viscous and non-viscous constitutents. It is to this task to which the present invention is primarily directed.